Vegetable gardening is nutritious in both body and mind. It’s exciting to watch a little seed turn into a sprout, then into a small plant, and eventually, into a big ole squash plant that’s bursting with bright yellow gourds and giant green leaves. Digging your hands into cool soil is meditative. Smelling the basil and dill is heavenly. And you don’t have to live on a country estate to grow your own food at home, either.
City dwellers can plant vegetables in patio container gardens. In cold climates, you can start a small garden indoors or even grow vegetables outdoors most of the year if you have a greenhouse.
When it comes to planning a backyard vegetable garden, ideas are easy to come by. There are plenty of pictures of elaborate gardens with rows of sun-ripened tomatoes, entire sections devoted solely to peas, raised beds for root vegetables, and, of course, a fountain and seating area. We don’t all have gigantic yards, though. As nice as it would be to have row after row of heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers, it’s just not realistic when your backyard garden is a two-foot by four-foot rectangle between your driveway and the foundation of your house.
The thing is, you can create a really nice garden in that small rectangle of space. It’s a simple matter of timing, design, and plant selection. But if you have a large backyard, even better!
In the articles below, we dive into everything you need to know about vegetable gardening. You can learn even more in our How to Grow a Vegetable Garden: 10 Things Every Gardener Needs to Know Before Starting a Food Garden freebie. Enjoy!
There are two ways to think about unique vegetable garden ideas: one is design and layout, and the other is what vegetables you grow. But why not combine them? There’s no rule that says you have to choose between interesting vegetables and fun garden design. At least, I don’t think there is.
Hey there, fellow green thumbs and food enthusiasts! We’ve embarked on an epic quest through our vast network of food gardeners and scoured the Internet’s deepest, darkest corners to unearth the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to garden-related humor. We’ve suffered through countless puns, endured a deluge of garden gags, and emerged […]
I live in New England, and I love having four distinct seasons, even if winter is a bit longer than I’d like. If you’re reading this based on the title, you are likely in New England too (howdy neighbor!) so you know that New England also has a long history of farming, and you probably live on a plot that was once farmland. Bartlett Farm, one of the oldest farms in New England, is in Massachusetts and began growing vegetables in 1659 (or possibly 1639, depending on your source).
The first time I planted an herb garden and saw my chives, sage, and thyme grow back in the second year, I jumped to wondering what other kinds of herbs and vegetables regrow a second season and beyond. Living in New England, even perennial herbs like Rosemary are considered “tender perennials” depending on how harsh your winter gets, so could there be perennial vegetables that differ in their perennial-ness, too?
Nice as it would be, we don’t all have big plots of land and healthy, rich soil to grow our gardens. Heck, some of us don’t have any land at all, so we stick to container gardens on the balcony or front porch. Even though that may seem limiting, there are a lot of shallow root vegetables that work in containers or those tough spots that don’t seem useful for growing anything.
Vertical gardening is very trendy these days, but I think it’s for good reason. Vegetable vines are great for growing “up,” and can be ideal for small gardens and containers. In fact, one of my city-dwelling friends manages to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and pole beans in a few large pots on the front porch. When I learned I could grow squash vertically around an arch trellis instead of, basically, everywhere they want to go, my life was forever changed.
They say you can’t put pineapple on pizza. They say you shouldn’t have more than two cups of coffee or tea each day. They say you can’t have it all. Well, I’m not exactly sure who “they” are, but I’m here to tell you that you can have it all. You want pineapple on that pizza? Four cups of coffee? Go for it. You want flowering vegetables? Go for…. wait. What?
I love a good garden joke. Why doesn’t Elton John like lettuce? He’s more of a Rocket Man. I was offered a job as a gardener, but I didn’t take it because the celery was too low. Oh, ho, ho. Knee-slappers I say. You know what else I love? Quotes about gardening, and these inspirational […]
I remember being in third grade and my teacher separated two of the annoying boisterous kids (okay, one of them was me), and said: “You two just can’t be around each other!” We were constantly distracting others and getting into trouble. Well, not unlike a couple of disruptive 8-year olds, there are vegetables that should not be planted together.
When it comes to a backyard vegetable garden, ideas are easy to come by. There are plenty of pictures of elaborate gardens with rows of sun-ripened tomatoes, entire sections devoted solely to peas, raised beds for root vegetables, and, of course, a fountain and seating area. We don’t all have gigantic yards, though. As nice as it would be to have row after row of heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers, it’s just not realistic when your backyard garden is a two-foot by four-foot rectangle between your driveway and the foundation of your house.
